US missed Russia's warnings on Tsarnaev due to spelling mistake - report

The Russian government warned the United States twice that alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a potential terror suspect, but an upcoming Congressional report states he escaped detainment due in part to a spelling error.

According to NBC News, a yet-to-be-released
report by the House Homeland Security Committee found that after
two notes on Tsarnaev were placed into US security databases, he
was able to travel to and from Dagestan – where he allegedly
received jihad training for six months – without being detained
for questioning.

One of the notes had expired by the time Tsarnaev returned to the
United States in July 2012, but another was still active, meaning
the warning on his file should’ve brought about his detainment.
The report states his name was misspelled with a “y,” however –
“Tsarnayev” instead of “Tsarnaev” – and as a result, he was able
to come and go without objection.

“This sounds like a huge hole and an opportunity
missed,” Ed Davis, the former chief of police in Boston at
the time of the bombing, told NBC.

The news outlet states it was able to review copies of the report
and the documents that contributed to it, and has laid out the
timeline of events like so: In March 2011, the Russian
intelligence agency FSB sent the FBI a cable relaying its
knowledge of Tsarnaev’s potential links to radical Islamic
groups.

After receiving this information, the FBI opened an investigation
into Tsarnaev that month, interviewing him in person, but not
running surveillance since the case did not reach the required
threshold necessary to authorize such action. A note on Tsarnaev
was also entered into the TECS security database, which would
alert officials every time he left or arrived on US soil.

Finding no links to terrorism, however, the report apparently
states the investigation was closed in June.

In September 2011, meanwhile, a second cable was sent by the FSB
to officials at the CIA, repeating much of what it told the FBI
six months earlier. Although there are no signs that a second
investigation was conducted, or that the first one was reopened,
NBC quotes unnamed sources who say a second note was placed in
the TECS database, but this time the name was misspelled.

According to the note, if Tsarnaev was seen leaving or
re-entering the United States, his detention was “mandatory.”

“Detain isolated and immediately call the lookout duty
officer at NTC (24X7),” the note read. “Call is
mandatory whether or not the officer believes there is an exact
match. Advise the person answering the phone that you have a code
tip lookout intercept.”

When Tsarnaev originally left New York on a flight to Moscow, he
was flagged by the system but not detained, with sources telling
NBC that others on the 100-strong “Hot List” of names traveling
through JFK airport that day were a higher priority.

By the time Tsarnaev returned to the US in July 2012, the first
alert had expired, and the second one did not spring into effect
due to the spelling error.

On April 15, 2013, the Boston Marathon bombing killed three
individuals and injured more than 260 others. As law enforcement
officials hunted down its suspects – Tsarnaev along with his
brother Dzhokhar – Tamerlan was killed in a confrontation with
police, while Dzhokhar was found in a boat and arrested the next
day.

Dzhokhar is pleading not guilty to charges of terrorism related
to the bombing, and his trial is scheduled to begin in November.